Assessing International Trade in Healthcare Services

Many stories and anecdotal evidence document doctors and patients travelling across the globe to give and receive medical and cosmetic surgeries, dental care and other kinds of treatments. But very little is actually known on the extent to which health services are traded internationally. In this new paper, Lior Herman maps and analyses trends in international trade in health services, drawing on a wide range of sources to provide a comprehensive and systematic picture. He finds high levels of movement of foreign health professionals between countries and significant presence of foreign healthcare firms in local markets. Cross-border services and patient travel remain low. Given the economic significance of the healthcare sector in overall economic activity, there is scope and unexploited potential for greater international trade in healthcare services.